57-601: Barry McKenzie (full name: Barrington Bradman Bing McKenzie ) is a fictional character created in 1964 by the Australian comedian Barry Humphries , suggested by Peter Cook , for a comic strip , written by Humphries and drawn by New Zealand artist Nicholas Garland in the British satirical magazine Private Eye . He was subsequently featured in theatre and in two films in the 1970s, and portrayed by Australian singer Barry Crocker . One of Humphries' early stage characters
114-401: A Canberra student magazine Prometheus ). Humphries describes Sandy, originally called Dusty, as an "elderly, childless man" living in the suburbs of Melbourne. His vocal mannerisms came from an aged man Humphries met on Bondi Beach . One of Sandy's monologues was part of the recording A Nice Night's Entertainment , which was particularly enjoyed by Humphries' friend, Peter Cook . Humphries
171-574: A New Enlarged Glossary (1979). The first two books were published in London and initially banned in Australia with the Minister for Customs and Excise stating the comic "relied on indecency for its humour". The three books and unpublished strips were compiled for The Complete Barry McKenzie: Not so Much a Legendary Strip, More a Resonant Social History Per Se , which was published in 1988 and featured
228-585: A Show , staged at London's Fortune Theatre in 1969. It polarised the critics but was a hit with audiences and became the basis of a growing cult following in the UK. He further developed the character of Edna Everage in his early-1970s' shows, including A Load of Olde Stuffe (1971) and At Least You Can Say You've Seen It (1974–75). He finally broke through to widespread critical and audience acclaim in Britain with his 1976 London production Housewife, Superstar! at
285-601: A cameo as Edna in the Robert Stigwood musical film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band , followed in 1981 by his part as the fake-blind TV-show host Bert Schnick in Shock Treatment , the sequel to The Rocky Horror Picture Show . Humphries was more successful with his featured role as Richard Deane in Dr. Fischer of Geneva (1985); this was followed by Howling III (1987), a cameo as Rupert Murdoch in
342-454: A character similar to Edna in the back of a bus while touring country Victoria with Twelfth Night with the MTC at the age of 20. He credited his then mentor, Peter O'Shaughnessy , stating that, without his "nurturing and promotion, the character of Edna Everage would have been nipped in the bud after 1956 and never come to flower, while the character of Sandy Stone would never have taken shape as
399-535: A dowdy Moonee Ponds housewife who caricatured Australian suburban complacency and insularity, the Dame Edna Everage character developed into a satire of stardom: a gaudily dressed, acid-tongued, egomaniacal, internationally fêted "housewife gigastar". His other satirical characters included the "priapic and inebriated cultural attaché" Sir Les Patterson, who "continued to bring worldwide discredit upon Australian arts and culture, while contributing as much to
456-562: A film version of the Barry McKenzie cartoons. The Adventures of Barry McKenzie starred singer Barry Crocker in the title role and featured Humphries—who co-wrote the script with Beresford—playing three different parts. It was filmed in England and Australia with an all-star cast including Spike Milligan, Peter Cook, Dennis Price , Dick Bentley , Willie Rushton , Julie Covington , Clive James and broadcaster Joan Bakewell . It
513-469: A friend of and was photographed by leading photographer Lewis Morley , whose studio was located above the club. Humphries contributed to the satirical magazine Private Eye , of which Cook was publisher, his best-known work being the cartoon strip The Wonderful World of Barry McKenzie . The bawdy cartoon satire of the worst aspects of Australians abroad was written by Humphries and drawn by New Zealand-born cartoonist Nicholas Garland . The book version of
570-403: A half hours long, alternated satirical monologues and musical numbers and consisted of entirely original material, laced with ad-libbing, improvisation and audience participation segments. Humphries mostly performed solo, but he was occasionally joined on stage by supporting dancers and an accompanist during the musical numbers. Only one actor ever regularly shared the stage with Humphries, and this
627-540: A one-off, Humphries decided to revive "Olympic Hostess" for Phillip Street and its success helped to launch what became a fifty-year career for the self-proclaimed "Housewife Superstar" (later Megastar, then Gigastar). The next Phillip Street revue was Around the Loop , which again teamed Oldaker, Gordon Chater , Blacklock and Humphries, plus newcomer June Salter . Humphries revived the Edna character (for what he said would be
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#1732787677964684-423: A preface by Sir Les Patterson . In 1972, the film The Adventures of Barry McKenzie was released, based on the first published book. In 1974, a sequel, Barry McKenzie Holds His Own , was made. The films starred Barry Crocker as McKenzie, and chronicled the character's adventures in Britain and France respectively. In the films, McKenzie is the nephew of another of Humphries' characters, Edna Everage . Despite
741-496: A presence on the stage". In 1957, Humphries moved to Sydney and joined Sydney's Phillip Street Theatre , which became Australia's leading venue for revue and satirical comedy over the next decade. His first appearance at Phillip Street was in the satirical revue Two to One , starring veteran Australian musical star Max Oldaker, with a cast including Humphries and future Number 96 star Wendy Blacklock . Although he had originally assumed Edna's debut Melbourne appearance would be
798-662: A series of three chat-show specials filmed in the U.S. for the NBC and the Fox network . Like The Dame Edna Experience , these included an array of top celebrity guests such as Burt Reynolds , Cher , Bea Arthur , Kim Basinger and Barry Manilow . Edna's most recent television special was Dame Edna Live at the Palace in 2003. He starred in the Kath & Kim telemovie Da Kath & Kim Code in late 2005. In 1977, Dame Edna guest-starred on
855-565: A spoon with a sheep's eye. Humphries had written and performed songs and sketches in university revues, so after leaving university he joined the newly formed Melbourne Theatre Company (MTC). It was at this point that he created the first incarnation of what became his best-known character, Edna Everage . The first stage sketch to feature Mrs. Norm Everage, called "Olympic Hostess", premiered at Melbourne University's Union Theatre on 13 December 1955. In his award-winning autobiography, More Please (1992), Humphries related that he had created
912-613: The Apollo Theatre . Its success in Britain and Australia led Humphries to try his luck with the show in New York City in 1977 at the off-Broadway Theatre Four (now called the Julia Miles Theatre), but it proved to be a disastrous repeat of his experience with Just a Show . Humphries later summed up his negative reception by saying: "When The New York Times tells you to close, you close." His next show
969-776: The EP Wild Life in Suburbia , which featured liner notes by his friend, the Modernist architect and writer Robin Boyd . In 1959, Humphries moved to London, where he lived and worked throughout the 1960s. He became a friend of leading members of the British comedy scene including Dudley Moore , Peter Cook , Alan Bennett , Jonathan Miller , Spike Milligan , Willie Rushton and fellow Australian expatriate comedian-actors John Bluthal and Dick Bentley . Humphries performed at Cook's comedy venue The Establishment , where he became
1026-714: The London Palladium . In 1967, his friendship with Cook and Moore led to his first film role, a cameo as "Envy" in the film Bedazzled , starring Cook and Moore, with Eleanor Bron and directed by Stanley Donen . The following year, he appeared in The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom , with Shirley MacLaine . Humphries contributed to BBC Television 's The Late Show (1966–67), but Humphries found his true calling with his one-man satirical stage revues, in which he performed as Edna Everage and other character creations including Sandy Stone. A Nice Night's Entertainment (1962)
1083-649: The Mermaid Theatre and was transferring to the West End . Humphries performed with Milligan in the 1968 production of Treasure Island in the role of Long John Silver . He described working with Milligan as "one of the strangest and most exhilarating experiences of my career". In 1961, when Humphries was in Cornwall with his wife, he fell over a cliff near Zennor and landed on a ledge 50 m (150 ft) below, breaking bones. The rescue by helicopter
1140-712: The Samuel Beckett play at the Arrow Theatre in Melbourne directed by Peter O'Shaughnessy who played Vladimir. In 1958, Humphries and O'Shaughnessy collaborated on and appeared in the Rock'n'Reel Revue at the New Theatre in Melbourne, where Humphries brought the characters of Mrs Everage and Sandy Stone into the psyche of Melbourne audiences. In the same year, Humphries made his first commercial recording,
1197-683: The University of Melbourne , where he studied law, philosophy and fine arts. During this time, he was a private in the Melbourne University Regiment , serving a period of national service in the Citizens Military Force of the Australian Army . He did not graduate from university (although he would receive an honorary doctorate almost 50 years later). During this time he became a follower of
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#17327876779641254-446: The platypus , a beloved and protected species in Australia. He was part of a group that made a series of Dada-influenced recordings in Melbourne from 1952 to 1953. "Wubbo Music" (Humphries said that "wubbo" is a pseudo-Aboriginal word meaning "nothing") is thought to be one of the earliest recordings of experimental music in Australia. Other exhibits the group mounted include "Creche Bang", a pram covered in meat and "Eye and Spoon Race",
1311-493: The 1960s, as did Humphries in the 1970s). Ingrams said that "Humphries was at that stage a serious alcoholic". The Private Eye comic strips were compiled into three books, The Wonderful World of Barry McKenzie (1968), in which McKenzie travels to Britain to claim his inheritance, followed by Bazza Pulls It Off! (1971), and later, Bazza Comes Into His Own: The Final Fescennine Farago of Barry McKenzie, Australia's First Working-Class Hero—With Learned and Scholarly Appendices and
1368-413: The 2014 "Dead Point" episode. In 2000 Humphries took his Dame Edna: The Royal Tour show to North America winning the inaugural Special Tony Award for a Live Theatrical Event in 2000 and won two National Broadway Theatre Awards for "Best Play" and for "Best Actor" in 2001. Asked by an Australian journalist what it was like to win a Tony Award , he said "it was like winning a thousand Gold Logies at
1425-484: The Australian vernacular as he has borrowed from it"; gentle, grandfatherly "returned gentleman" Sandy Stone ; iconoclastic 1960s' underground film-maker Martin Agrippa; Paddington socialist academic Neil Singleton; sleazy trade-union official Lance Boyle; high-pressure art salesman Morrie O'Connor; failed tycoon Owen Steele; and archetypal Australian bloke Barry McKenzie . Humphries was born on 17 February 1934 in
1482-458: The U.S. sketch comedy and variety show Saturday Night Live . In 2007, Humphries returned to the UK's ITV to host another comedy chat show called The Dame Edna Treatment , a similar format to The Dame Edna Experience from 20 years earlier. The series once again had a collection of high-profile celebrity guests, such as Tim Allen , Mischa Barton , Sigourney Weaver , Debbie Harry , and Shirley Bassey . In March 2008, Humphries joined
1539-651: The World , directed by George T. Miller of Man From Snowy River fame and co-written by Humphries with his third wife, Diane Millstead. In 2003, Humphries voiced the shark Bruce in the Pixar animated film Finding Nemo , using an exaggerated baritone Australian accent. During 2011, Humphries travelled to New Zealand to perform the role of the Great Goblin in the first instalment of Peter Jackson 's three-part adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien 's The Hobbit . At
1596-583: The banning of The Wonderful World of Barry McKenzie in Australia, the films received considerable support from the Australian government of John Gorton , becoming the first to receive funding from the Australian Film Development Commission . Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam appeared in Barry McKenzie Holds His Own , granting a damehood to McKenzie's aunt, Edna Everage . The character
1653-625: The comic strip, published in the late 1960s, was for some time banned by the Australian government because it "relied on indecency for its humour". Humphries appeared in numerous West End stage productions including the musicals Oliver! and Maggie May , by Lionel Bart , and in stage and radio productions by his friend Spike Milligan. At one time, he was invited to play the leading role of Captain Martin Bules in The Bedsitting Room , which had already opened successfully at
1710-451: The deconstructive and absurdist art movement, Dada . The Dadaist pranks and performances that he mounted in Melbourne were experiments in anarchy and visual satire that have become part of Australian folklore. An exhibit entitled "Puss in Boots" consisted of a pair of Wellington boots filled with custard; a mock pesticide product called "Platytox" claimed on its box to be effective against
1767-454: The judging panel on the BBC talent show I'd Do Anything to find an unknown lead to play the part of Nancy in a West End revival of the musical Oliver! . In May 2013, Australia's ABC Network announced that Humphries would be joining the cast of the Australian telemovie series, Jack Irish , playing a high-profile judge in the third movie in the series. He appeared as Justice Loder in
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1824-560: The last time) and the revue proved to be a major hit, playing eight shows a week for 14 months. During this period Humphries was living near Bondi and while out walking one day he had a chance meeting with an elderly man who had a high, scratchy voice and a pedantic manner of speech; this encounter inspired the creation of another of Humphries's most enduring characters, Sandy Stone . In September 1957, Humphries appeared as Estragon in Waiting for Godot , in Australia's first production of
1881-488: The late 1960s, Humphries appeared in numerous films, mostly in supporting or cameo roles. His credits included Bedazzled (1967), the UK sex comedy Percy's Progress (1974), David Baker's The Great Macarthy (1975), and Bruce Beresford's Barry McKenzie Holds His Own (1974), in which Edna was made a dame by then Australian prime minister Gough Whitlam . His other film credits included Side by Side (1975) and The Getting of Wisdom (1977). The same year, he had
1938-515: The lyrics for " Down Under " were inspired by the Barry McKenzie character. Barry Humphries John Barry Humphries AC CBE (17 February 1934 – 22 April 2023) was an Australian comedian, actor, author and satirist. He was best known for writing and playing his stage and television characters Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson . He appeared in numerous stage productions, films and television shows. Humphries's characters brought him international renown. Originally conceived as
1995-967: The miniseries Selling Hitler (1991) with Alexei Sayle , a three-role cameo in Philippe Mora 's horror satire Pterodactyl Woman from Beverly Hills (1995), the role of Count Metternich in Immortal Beloved (1994), as well as roles in The Leading Man (1996), the Spice Girls ' film Spice World , the Australian feature Welcome to Woop Woop (1997), and Nicholas Nickleby (2002), in which he donned female garb to play Nathan Lane 's wife. Humphries featured in various roles in comedy performance films including The Secret Policeman's Other Ball (1982) and A Night of Comic Relief 2 (1989). In 1987, he starred as Les Patterson in one of his own rare flops, Les Patterson Saves
2052-681: The most significant comedian to emerge since Charlie Chaplin ". Humphries's numerous television appearances in Australia, the UK and the U.S. included The Bunyip , a children's comedy for the Seven Network in Melbourne. In the UK, he made two highly successful series of his comedy talk show The Dame Edna Experience for London Weekend Television . The series featured a variety of famous guests, including Liza Minnelli , Sean Connery , Roger Moore , Dusty Springfield , Charlton Heston , Lauren Bacall , and Jane Seymour . These highly popular programmes have since been repeated worldwide, and
2109-434: The pattern for his eventual stage career; his father in particular spent little time with him, and Humphries spent hours playing at dressing-up in the back garden. Disguising myself as different characters and I had a whole box of dressing up clothes ... Red Indian , sailor suit, Chinese costume and I was very spoiled in that way ... I also found that entertaining people gave me a great feeling of release, making people laugh
2166-482: The press conference in Wellington, New Zealand, just before the film's world premiere, Humphries commented: It was thrilling to work on this film and when you see my extraordinary interpretation you realise why I immediately fell into the arms of Jenny Craig , and minor cosmetic surgery. I always thought motion capture was something you did when you were taking a specimen at the doctor. In 2015, Humphries voiced
2223-840: The role of Wombo the Wombat in Blinky Bill the Movie . In 2016, he appeared in a dual role in Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie as Charlie, a rich former lover of Patsy Stone , and in a nonspeaking cameo as Dame Edna. Humphries's forte was always his one-man satirical stage revues, in which he appeared as Edna Everage and other character creations, most commonly Les Patterson and Sandy Stone. The longevity of Dame Edna endured for more than sixty years, but, in 2012, he announced his retirement from live performance. Humphries's one-man shows, which were typically two and
2280-699: The role when the production moved to Broadway in 1963. However, the song "That's Your Funeral" was omitted from the RCA Victor original Broadway cast album, so Humphries is not heard at all on it. In 1967, he starred as Fagin in the Piccadilly Theatre 's revival of Oliver! , which featured a young Phil Collins as the Artful Dodger . In 1997, Humphries reprised the role of Fagin in Cameron Mackintosh 's award-winning revival at
2337-469: The same time". Dame Edna's new-found success in the United States led to many media opportunities, including a semi-regular role in the hit TV series Ally McBeal . Vanity Fair magazine invited Dame Edna to write a satirical advice column in 2003, although, after an outcry following a remark about learning Spanish , the column was discontinued. Sandy Stone (character) Sandy Stone
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2394-623: The special A Night on Mount Edna won Humphries the Golden Rose of Montreux in 1991. He wrote and starred in ABC-TV 's The Life and Death of Sandy Stone (1991), and presented the ABC social history series Barry Humphries' Flashbacks (1998). His other television shows and one-off specials include Dame Edna's Neighbourhood Watch (1992), Dame Edna's Work Experience (1996), Dame Edna Kisses It Better (1997) and Dame Edna's Hollywood (1991–92),
2451-566: The suburb of Kew in Melbourne , Victoria, the son of Eric Humphries (né John Albert Eric Humphries) (1905–1972), a construction manager, and his wife Louisa Agnes (née Brown) (1907–1984). His grandfather John George Humphries was an emigrant to Australia from Manchester , England, in the late 1800s. His father was well-to-do, and Barry grew up in a "clean, tasteful, and modern suburban home" on Christowel Street, Camberwell , then one of Melbourne's new " garden suburbs ". His early home life set
2508-996: The tale of Dot Swift who was handed over to the Twilight Home which may be the very same home, or perhaps a subsidiary of the one Dame Edna 's mother resides in. Barry Humphries sometimes used the character to balance pathos with humor or satire: in one monologue having the ghost of Sandy Stone recall his four-year-old daughter who died in the 1930s and how his wife then suffered a breakdown. The Australian columnist Peter Craven commented that Humphries in his Sandy Stone persona could "reduce an audience of young unbelieving cynics to tears with material that might have been written by James Joyce - delivered with wan, uncomprehending wonderment". In some recent appearances ( Shades ), Sandy states he never had any children. A specialist had confirmed this and he never ever completed work on dolls house furniture he had started in his workshop. The planned "nursery" lost its purpose and name. The character
2565-855: Was Isn't It Pathetic at His Age (1978), and, like many of his shows, the title derives from the sarcastic remarks his mother often made when she took Humphries to the theatre to see superannuated overseas actors touring in Australia during his youth. His subsequent one-man shows included: He made numerous theatrical tours in Germany, Scandinavia, the Netherlands, and the Far and Middle East. In 2003, he toured Australia with his show Getting Back to My Roots (and Other Suckers) . For his delivery of Dadaist and absurdist humour to millions, his biographer Anne Pender described Humphries in 2010 as not only "the most significant theatrical figure of our time ... [but]
2622-451: Was a male character played by the Australian comedian Barry Humphries . Described by John Betjeman as "this decent man from the suburbs", Stone is one of Humphries' more enduring characters. The inspiration for Sandy came from a neighbour, a Mr Whittle, whom Humphries knew as a boy, and was portrayed in a short story, Sandy Stone's Big Week , written by Humphries (under the pseudonym H. Grahame) in 1956 but not published until 1958 (in
2679-518: Was a parody of the boorish Australian overseas, particularly those residing in Britain – ignorant, loud, crude, drunk, and pugnacious – although McKenzie also proved popular with Australians because he embodied some of their positive characteristics: he was friendly, forthright, and straightforward with his British hosts, who themselves were often portrayed as stereotypes of pompous, arrogant, devious colonialists. Men at Work lead singer Colin Hay said that
2736-541: Was a surfer named "Buster Thompson", who served as a prototype for Barry McKenzie. Humphries has noted that after Peter Cook heard a recording of Thompson in New York in 1962, he invited him to devise a similar character for Private Eye . The comic strip about a "randy, boozy Australian rampaging through Swinging London " was very popular, but Eye editor Richard Ingrams eventually dropped it on account of Humphries’ drinking and missing deadlines (Ingrams gave up alcohol in
2793-417: Was a very good way of befriending them. People couldn't hit you if they were laughing. His parents nicknamed him "Sunny Sam", and his early childhood was happy and uneventful. However, in his teens, Humphries began to rebel against the strictures of conventional suburban life by becoming "artistic", much to the dismay of his parents, who, despite their affluence, distrusted "art". A key event took place when he
2850-483: Was almost unanimously panned by Australian film critics, but became a huge hit with audiences. The film became the first Australian feature film to make more than $ 1 million at the box office, paving the way for the success of subsequent locally made feature films such as Alvin Purple and Picnic at Hanging Rock . It has been argued that Humphries was the first "proper" movie star of the Australian movie revival and
2907-529: Was awarded a place in the school's gallery of achievement. As his father's building business prospered, Humphries was sent to Melbourne Grammar School , where he spurned sport, detested mathematics, shirked cadets "on the basis of conscientious objection" and matriculated with strong results in English and art. Humphries described this schooling, in a Who's Who entry, as "self-educated, attended Melbourne Grammar School". Humphries spent two years studying at
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#17327876779642964-556: Was during the Edna segments: English actress Emily Perry played Edna's long-suffering bridesmaid from New Zealand, Madge Allsop , whose character never spoke. Humphries presented many successful shows in London, most of which he subsequently toured internationally. Although he eventually gained worldwide popularity, he encountered stiff resistance in the early years of his career: his first London one-man show, A Nice Night's Entertainment (1962), received scathing reviews. He gained considerable notoriety with his next one-man revue, Just
3021-470: Was filmed by a news crew from ITN . The footage of the rescue was shown to Humphries for the first time on a 2006 BBC show, Turn Back Time . Humphries's first major break on the British stage came when he was cast in the role of the undertaker Mr Sowerberry for the original 1960 London stage production of Oliver! He recorded Sowerberry's feature number "That's Your Funeral" for the original London cast album (released on Decca Records ) and reprised
3078-545: Was nine – his mother gave all of his books to the Salvation Army , cheerfully explaining: "But you've read them, Barry." Humphries responded by becoming a voracious reader, a collector of rare books, a painter, a theatre fan and a surrealist . Dressing in a black cloak, black homburg hat and mascaraed eyes, he invented his first sustained character, "Dr Aaron Azimuth", agent provocateur , dandy and Dadaist . Educated first at Camberwell Grammar School , Humphries
3135-440: Was still writing monologues for Sandy Stone "Australia’s most boring man". He said in 2016 that "slowly the character has deepened, so I begin to understand and appreciate him, and finally feel myself turning into him". In Humphries' later years, he no longer required makeup for the part, and played Sandy in his own dressing gown. Sandy's monologues were sometimes inspired by stories recounted to Humphries by friends or family, like
3192-742: Was the first such revue. It and Excuse I: Another Nice Night's Entertainment (1965) were only performed in Australia. In 1968 Humphries returned to Australia to tour his one-man revue Just a Show ; this production transferred to London's Fortune Theatre in 1969. Humphries gained considerable notoriety with Just a Show . It polarised British critics but was successful enough to lead to a short-lived BBC television series, The Barry Humphries Scandals . In 1970, Humphries returned to Australia, where Edna Everage made her movie debut in John B. Murray's The Naked Bunyip . In 1971–72 he teamed up with producer Phillip Adams and writer-director Bruce Beresford to create
3249-453: Was under-used as a star of local films. Another artistic production undertaken at this time was a 1972 collaboration between Humphries and the Australian composer Nigel Butterley . Together, they produced First Day Covers , a collection of poems about suburbia – read in performance by Edna Everage – with accompanying music by Butterley. It included poems with titles such as "Histoire du Lamington" and "Morceau en forme de 'meat pie'". From
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